Categories: Videos

In the car world, being a Ferrari test driver has got to be the best job in the world. “Heya, Luigi, take’a this 458 out an see’a if it breaks’a”. So you tear out of the factory, bound for Ferrari’s private 1.9-mile test track outside of Maranello. Then you bomb the freshly built supercar around Fiorano’s curves and straightaways until something goes ’Bam!’. Such is the life of the lucky bastard in this video. And you get to watch as he beats the livin' hell out of a Giallo Modena yellow 458. Turn your speakers up so you can hear that V8 wail.

In the right hands, a Ferrari can do amazing things. It reacts to your input much faster than a normal car, and that allows you to cover large tracts of land very quickly. They can also make you look like a complete idiot, if you allow your ego to take the wheel. Our tool of the day discovered this fact the hard way. And it is funny.

Imagine driving down a five lane—two in either direction with a turn lane in the center—street lined with houses. You're in the nearer-to-center lane—at the 45 mph speed limit, of course—and notice a small pickup back out of a far away driveway into the curb-side lane of your half of the road. You think nothing of it, seeing as how they’re starting to roll forward in a different lane, as expected. But just as the “Why are they going so slow?” question sounds in your brain, the truck's driver decides to make an abrupt left turn directly into your path when you’re two car-lengths away.

Instantly you’re HARD on the brakes and diving for the center turn lane in a vain attempt to miss the collision, knowing that turning any further will only put you in the path of oncoming traffic and make things worse. And that’s the last thought your brain gets out before your beloved 1981 Volvo wagon’s right front corner plows into the offender’s 1990 Toyota pickup at its left front tire.

Welcome to the REAL world of 40+ mph “small overlap” impacts, 1992-style. And, as I’m sure you’ve guessed from all the driving and typing I’ve done in the 22 year interim, I was (relatively) unhurt. The other guy(s), well, not so much…

The "Ford Lightweight Concept" won't win any prizes for naming creativity, but it could very well influence the future of automotive engineering. The concept is a comprehensive approach to cutting weight that uses advanced materials and construction techniques.

As you might have read in an article a colleague of mine wrote a while ago, the 1994 Dodge Ram displayed at that year’s Detroit Auto Show is blamed/praised as the pickup design that set the tone for every rig that’s followed. And for that, we all—yes, ALL—should kiss the ring of anyone involved in the creation—and implementation—of that truck.

If you are hoping for a car under your tree and wake up Christmas morning to find that Santa didn’t bring you one, don’t despair. You can build one for yourself out of all the Legos you may have gotten instead.

The 2014 Chevy Volt will feature a few very minor option updates, but outside of that, the only thing new on it is the price. The next generation of the Volt promises a much more thorough series of upgrades, including much improved all-electric range, according to comments from GM CEO Dan Akerson. It still won't be a rightful "electric vehicle," the way GM insists on describing it, but it will be one step closer.

The "LeFerrari" is one of the worst names ever conceived for a vehicle. And that's a damn shame because the car promises to be one of the most awesome exotics of our generation. Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso cashed in on that promise in a short video clip that takes us in and out of the LeFerrari.

Every year, famous Italian design houses, like Pininfarina and Bertone, scramble to build sporty concept cars for auto shows and events throughout the year. They all seem to rally particularly strong for the annual Geneva Motor Show. This year, one of those design houses, Italdesign, went beyond the obvious sports coupes and roadsters, designing something truly unique—an off-road supercar. The aptly named Parcour concept, envisioned as both a coupe and roadster, brings luscious, red curves to the off-road segment, or is that brute utility to the supercar segment? Italdesign vice chairman Fabrizio Giugiaro clues us in in a new video.

Volvo has been working to make itself an automotive technological leader. Over the past few months and years, it's demonstrated or discussed upcoming technologies like car-to-car communications, the SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment), and self-charging EV highways. In its latest demonstration, Volvo shows us a car that can park itself.